New Hamburg Board of Trade aims to expand membership through new business forum

By Amanda Nelson

Lillianne Dunstall, president of the New Hamburg Board of Trade, announced at the monthly meeting on April 20 the board of trade is actively working to gain new members, but she says this can’t happen without offering members more value for what they’re getting.

Dunstall notes she’s actively working with connections across the region to bring more value to members, including Wilmot Mayor Natasha Salonen, Conestoga College and groups such as Kiwanis Transit and the Grassroots Response to the Ukrainian Crisis.

The board of trade is looking to expand by seeking members from the manufacturing sector, trades, service providers and agriculture to broaden its reach and influence.

She notes that although the New Hamburg Board of Trade has several members from the manufacturing sector, they don’t seem to get as much value from their memberships as she would like.

“They belonged to the board of trade to be good corporate citizens and support the town their business is in, but other than that, there really wasn't much we offered them,” she said. “We have done a great job supporting our downtown businesses to keep our downtown open and vibrant, and we will continue to do that.”

In response to this, Dunstall said the New Hamburg Board of Trade is launching the New Hamburg Business Forum, beginning with three roundtable/think tank discussions focused on manufacturing, trades and service providers.

She says these roundtables are where people can come together to share ideas, discuss challenges and develop practical solutions around a specific topic or issue.

“It means bringing business leaders, the township and regional partners together to have an honest conversation about what businesses need, where the gaps are and how we can better support them,” she said.

Each roundtable will bring together business leaders from that sector, along with the Economic Development Corporation (EDC), senior township staff, the mayor, commercial banking and past board of trade presidents.

Though this is just the beginning of what’s to come to broaden the reach of the New Hamburg Board of Trade, Dunstall says she’s excited to see who is showing up to support the board of trade.

“We are fortunate that, through our discussions with these different sectors, prominent business leaders have stepped up and said they want to be at that table,” she said. “We're thrilled to have them there.”